A model’s own applications can undermine its descriptive accuracy
Evidence
Since portfolio insurance was an application of option theory, this raises the issue of counterperformativity: perhaps the fit between option theory and reality was ended by an event in which one of its own applications was implicated? — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 151
Categorization
- DEFINE: Introduces ‘counterperformativity’ — the reflexive case where a theory’s application destroys its own fit to reality.
- XREF: connects to: Using a model can make markets conform less well to it. — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial…, 92; Useful models must both represent reality and simplify it for specific purposes — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 55; Performativity shifts analysis from model accuracy to model use effects — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial…, 1239 (+3 more)
Broader Connections
- Performativity shifts analysis from model accuracy to model use effects
#expands(0.80) — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 1239 - Useful models must both represent reality and simplify it for specific purposes
#qualifies(0.75) — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 55 - In simulation, models precede and engender facts rather than describing them.
#responds-to(0.72) — Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation, 62